South Africa appoint Parreira coach
South Africa appoint Parreira coach. World Cup hosts South Africa appointed Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira as coach for a second time Friday, national football association president Kirsten Nematandani said.
Parreira returns to a post he relinquished in April last year when his wife became seriously ill in Rio de Janeiro, and he was succeeded by compatriot Joel Santana.
International novice Santana, 60, lost his first match in charge away to Nigeria, struggled to improve the team, and was fired after suffering eight losses in nine matches.
Parreira, 66, guided Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title when they defeated Italy after a penalty shootout in the United States, but fared less well three years ago with the South Americans making a quarter-finals exit to France.
That defeat cost him his job and he took over Bafana Bafana (The Boys) for the first time in January 2007, but battled to convert the African also-rans into a formidable force on the world stage.
His greatest achievement came in his final match, a 3-0 defeat of Paraguay in a Pretoria friendly, soon after a poor 2008 African Nations Cup showing that led to a first round exit.
South Africa snatched a late draw against Angola in Ghana, were outplayed by Tunisia, and managed to take only one point off a Senegal team demoralised by the resignation of their coach.
Nematandani told a media conference that Parreira would be assisted by compatriot Jairo Leal and South African Pitso Mosimane.
Parreira and Santana worked with the pair and another, unnamed South African would be added to the coaching staff for an eight-month race to lift a team that has slumped to a 16-year low of 85 on the FIFA world rankings.
Nemantandani, who met Parreira in Brazil this week, refused to disclose his salary, saying only that it would be "less" than the 1.8 million rand (241,000 dollars) a month received during his previous stint.
The official said Parreira would be replaced by a South African coach after the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 11 2010 and will be the first edition staged in Africa.
Parreira's first game in charge will be a friendly against fellow World Cup qualifiers Japan on November 14 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
